Last rite

As 2017 wraps up, let’s pause to appreciate several artists whose annual holiday season concerts have brightened the local music scene for many years.

This is the final season with Chanticleer for vocalist Eric Alatorre, whose remarkable bass voice (featured on 40 Chanticleer recordings) and incredible waxed mustache (10 inches tip-to-tip) have made him a favorite of this elite male choral ensemble for 28 years. You can hear Alatorre singing with Chanticleer Thursday, December 14 at 8 p.m. in the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, 1017 Eleventh Street. Tickets are $35 to $75.

Next Sunday will be your last opportunity to hear the American Bach Soloists (ABS, a polished baroque group from the Bay Area) perform their exquisite period instrument interpretation of the Handel oratorio Messiah at the Mondavi Center at UC Davis, at least for a while. Catch them if you can on Sunday, December 17 at 4 p.m. Tickets are $13.50 to $65.

Fortunately, ABS will still be performing at the Davis Community Church in February, April and May. And of course, they will be doing Messiah again next year … but you’ll need to go to San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral to hear it.